Fabled

Radio scriptwriters mastered the technique of creating a full image in a few words. The cheaper shows overused great to describe a great mansion on a great boulevard in a great city.

Erskine Johnson’s Hollywood gossip column in the late 40s began with:

This is Truman Bradley speaking to you from the fabled penthouse studio where Erskine Johnson interviews celebrities and reports the latest news.

Fabled is a rare word, and it triggers a chain of false memories. I know what Hollywood is, and I know what a penthouse is. Fabled tells me that I’ve heard endless stories about this particular penthouse. Grandma told me about the time she visited this magic place. Libraries full of books have been written about Erskine’s unimaginably wonderful studio.

Well, none of those things happened, but your mind backfills all of those events, and they stand as valid until you stop to examine them closely. A similar process happens in dreams.